When the cat is away...

Pilots!

We have just returned from our holiday jaunt, and I hope that your own travels were warm and festive, and perhaps much less storied than our own.

There were some surprises that we came back to! Here's what I know:

Cessna 20U was due to go in for her 100hr inspection, but instead, seems to have been out practicing some soft field landings. Nobody seems to know what happened, but the FAA seems to be thinking "carb ice" at this time. Yuck. Keep an eye on that tachometer if you fly carbureted planes.

We are very happy that the pilot kept his wits about him and landed safely and without injury. 20U, however, will likely be down for "quite some time"

I have only seen pictures, so I do not have the full story yet.

Doh!



Our new Debonair for the flying club is being Ferried from Ohio tomorrow, and she can be expected to be on the line this week. We will spend a little time shaking some bugs out of her, and then she will be available for demonstration flights, high-po endorsements, or anytime you'd like some actual speed and room in an airplane. It's the cat's meow. If I don't turn it into a sno-cone this week, she'll be all over the skies of cali this week.



Sadly, I have not been in the office yet... for over a week in fact. We will be on a skeleton crew still until Thursday. Please be nice to Carlos and Nick until then. :)

More as I know it!

Blue Skies,

- Mike

New Wings!

Pilots!

I am a day behind -- but hopefully that won't prevent you from joining me in contratulating our latest U.S. Private Pilot, one Matt K., who soared to victory in Cessna 1ES with DPE Ken Earl yesterday.

Way to go, Matt!!



Such nice weather lately. Enjoy it while you can -- aircraft love the cold, and our heaters work great!

Blue Skies,

- Mike

A wrung-out sponge!

Pilots!

Such junky weather lately. Not a single flight today on the flightline, and we all decided to just go home.

Some things that I know...

Cessna 630 is coming up on her 100hr.

Cessna 20U is also.

Cessna 739 test flew for the first time today -- we expect her back on the flightline tomorrow! Huzzah!

Cessna 1ES is cruising.

So is Cessna 17J.

==



It looks like we will not need to throw in the sponge on our zombie 25R -- the insurance wait is over, and everything seems reasonable for us to repair her and get her back in the air -- with an estimated return to service in 8-10 weeks. Should be a project to keep us busy this winter. Cool!

==

We also have news on the flying club front! It appears that we finally have a contender, and our opening offering!



Please meet 11 November, a Beechcraft Debonair E33. She is stacked with all of the trimmings of an awesome cruising go-anywhere machine, including the following:

155kt cruise
3-blade prop
12gph fuel burn
4 seats
2-axis autopilot
IFR Enroute/Approach GPS
dual IFR navcoms w/dual glideslopes
HSI (!)
standby AI
Stormscope
JPI engine analyzer with Fuel Flow

Check this mama out:






If you have ever flown a Beechcraft, you know it is the most joyous, well-balanced, and amazing aircraft there is - light on the controls, easy to land well, and chock full of the thoughtful touches that make a pilot's life easy, and with a cost per mile between a 150 and a 172!

Imagine... Vegas in an hour. San Francisco in 2 hours. San Diego in 25 minutes. WOW. In fact, we took a similar Debonair to Osh Kosh this year, and it cruised with no complaining, and in comfort and style -- even when I flogged our poor pilot friends into a 14-hour marathon return home. I suspect some of our Intrepid Seven pilots may have recovered by now and can comment on the Bonanza/Debonair comfort and harmonious flying style.

(I think most of them liked flying the Debonair even more than my own V-tail :) )

Anyway, we are going to be trying 11N out under the following arrangement:

We are seeking 5 pilots interested in a club arrangement for a 1 year commitment. We do not believe there will be a minimum experience level, but insurance will be the final word, and we will have that answer early next week.

The dues to cover full and proper club insurance, as well as tie-down, and basic maintenance will be only ~$194 per month.

The aircraft will rent for ~$59/hr DRY (this means excluding fuel), which amounts to appx $117 wet, depending on fuel pricing. Club membership will include an individual truck service fuel account for easy dispatch and billing.

There will be a 100% refundable deposit involved (amount TBA), as well as a 1hr/mo minimum flight commit. Otherwise, we plan to keep things as simple as possible, and see how things go. We anticipate numerous tweaks, as well as the addition of other aircraft (which club members would have access to)

We expect to start this club as soon as we get folks involved, and this will be a separate entity from Fly Corona, with its own rules, schedule, ways of doing things, and accounting.

Please drop me an email at mike@flycorona.com if you are interested in launching something really cool at Corona with us!

==

That's all for now. More as I know it.

Blue Skies,

- Mike

The better part of valor...

Pilots,

What do you do when, trying to go flying on a drizzly overcast day, the briefer suggests it is VFR conditions everywhere, you launch, and you later find the ceilings dropping on you in increasingly heavy rain?

If you're a pro pilot, like one of our recent renters, you check your ego at the door, and you get the system working for you. A quick call to ATC on any of their frequencies, including 121.5, will get you priority, assistance, and the best possible odds of success. In this case, it was vectors to Ontario, and a choice of runways while other traffic was managed. An uneventful landing later, and our pilot is sipping hot cocoa at an FBO, waiting for a lift back to Corona. Nice.

A lot of attention is spent on pilots who get themselves out of tough situations intact, and a lot of pilot bravado and hangar stories revolve around the macho "by the skin of my teeth" stories, but I think it is far more impressive for a pilot to use all available resources immediately, including ATC, to get the job done. Why wait until all of the doors slam shut, if your situation is deteriorating? Why try to scud run in heavy rain, not knowing where that next radio tower is? We've all read those reports. They're chilling. Let's not add to them.

Kudos to our recent flyer who put the plane down at KONT, rather than wander around in the scuzz waiting for options to run out. We will *never* consider this the wrong choice, and we will gladly dispatch someone to retrieve you, however far away, and the plane if necessary. Planes are replaceable, pilots are not.

Bravo.



(Sully would be proud. :) )

In some other news,

Cessna 1ES completed her Annual inspection. She also has a new tail skid. Ahem.

Cessna 739 continues her wing work.

We should know this week about 25R's future.



Not much else going on. Soggy forecasts, and chilling weather. Please check freezing levels -- the only ice you should make belongs in a frosty arnold palmer. Mmm.

Warm cocoa, check those heaters!

- Mike

Cleaning up the joint...

Pilots!

The "24-hour security station", codenamed "Defense Outpost Eyesore", which has been immediately adjacent to our offices for something on the order of 2 years now -- is being removed tomorrow. We are told.

Please avoid parking near the thing, to allow them the maximum possible likelihood of success.

(yay!)



I will be moving our webserver from its current home to a new host at One Wilshire. The cut-over will take appx 1-2 hours, and will begin sometime tonight after 9pm. The website, schedule, and other affiliated goodies will be down during that time. I apologize for the inconvenience, but I believe it will improve the sluggish schedule we've suffered for awhile.



Some things I know about airplanes:

Cessna 630 has had her nose strut adjusted
Cessna 20U is cruising.
Cessna 739 is going slowly. We have another 1-2 weeks of work to be done. I aim to have some interesting pictures to share here soon.
Cessna 1ES will hopefully wrap her annual tomorrow and be up for action Friday or Saturday.
Cessna 17K has a replacement strobe enroute.

==

Chilly out, and it's dark early. Watch out for that evening marine layer which might trap you high and send you out to the high desert for relief. Check TAFs!

Blue Skies,

- Mike